


And Here We Go A-Questing

by theinconceivabletruth



Category: Sword Art Online
Genre: Gen, Quests, Álfheimr | Alfheim
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-17
Updated: 2016-11-17
Packaged: 2018-08-31 12:25:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8578477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theinconceivabletruth/pseuds/theinconceivabletruth
Summary: Sugou catches both Kirito and Asuna just after SAO is beaten. Leafa and Kirito still manage to cross paths, because there’s nothing Kirito hates more than PK’ers. And just like in the anime, our heroes run off on their epic quest – With one crucial difference.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to LordByron, who is my beta reader and puts up with my deluge of lightbulb! texts at all hours of the day.

It was a beautiful night.

Leafa had just logged into the game to get away from thoughts of Kaz—No, for an exhilarating night flight—when she and Recon were accosted by Salamanders. No surprise there. What was surprising was the Spriggan dressed in newbie gear who came barreling into the fight at their defense. And then he won, and Leafa was just done making guesses for the day.

“Who are you?” she demanded.

“I’m Kirito, and this is Yui,” the Spriggan replied, gesturing at a small NavPixie on his shoulder. The NavPixie dimpled a smile at her.

“Well, nice to meet you, I guess,” Leafa grumbled. “And—thanks for the save.”

Kirito scowled and crossed his arms. “I hate PK’ers.” Yui nodded along with him.

Leafa nearly laughed. “You might be in the wrong game then. Half the players are in it for PvP. But what are you doing, way out here?”

“I don’t know, I somehow ended up here…” Kirito said airily. “But I know where I’m going. I need to get to Arun, to find a friend.” By the end, Kirito was back in serious mode.

“Not like that, you aren’t! I grant you, your skills are good. But you’ll never make it in that gear, even if you weren’t traveling alone.”

Kirito looked sheepish. “Um, do you know where I could get some better equipment?” He scratched his cheek with his finger.

“Well, the closest city is Sylvane, but it’s a Sylph territory, so—“ at Kirito’s clueless face, Leafa sighed. “Nevermind. I’ll just take you there myself.” A notification flashed in the corner of her vision, but it wasn’t urgent so she let it fade into the queue to look at later. Flying, and Kirito’s shy smile, were more important.

***

Later, when they were about to leave for Arun, it was Recon who paused and asked, “Hey Leafa, are you sure you want to leave right now? I think there’s a rare Quest that we just opened the start to here—“

“No,” Leafa insisted. “The only quest we’re on right now is getting Kirito to Arun to find his friend.” _It’s not selfish. It’s not!_

Recon’s face cleared. “Oh, I get it. Wow! That’s so cool! You’re so smart, Leafa.” _What?_ She knew she had like four background notifications piled in her queue, but that could wait for later. Kirito looked like he was going to chew his own arm off if they took too much longer. _Whatever._ Recon waved. “Hey, I’ll catch up with you, all right? I need to check something that’s been bothering me.”

“Fine. But we won’t wait!” Leafa called back to him, as two pairs of wings buzzed into the sky.

It turned out that babysitting Kirito on the way to Arun was more like “point Kirito in the right direction and watch him bulldoze a way through to Arun.” It was kind of inspiring. Leafa wished the SAO Taskforce had as much drive to figure out what happened to her brother.

And yet, something was off. Kirito never talked about real life, and he seemed far too emotionally invested in finding this friend of his. He could just be an intensely motivated role player, but he didn’t seem to be acting. He talked too much about game mechanics to be truly trying to stay fully immersed in the game. And she never saw him log off. Whatever that meant.

When they finally reached Arun, Leafa turned to Kirito. “All right. Now where to, Kirito?” All she got was a blank look. “Come on! Don’t you have any information on where this girl is?”

At _information_ , Kirito seemed to snap out of it. He glanced at Yui, who shook her head. “I can’t sense Mama at all, Papa. I don’t have any way to track her here.” _Gah. Creepy. I might have to take that back about him not being a role player._

When Kirito’s eyes met hers, he was resolved once more. “I don’t know where she is, but I bet we can figure it out. Do you know where the biggest bar in town is?”

 _Uh, what?_ “No, why would we need –“

“I know, Papa!” _Of course she does._

Another notification blinked just out of vision, but it faded away as Kirito dragged Leafa off into Arun’s nightlife.

_Okay, I don’t think I ever realized Alfheim could have a sleazy criminal underbelly. Although ‘criminal’ might be an overstatement._

Kirito had sat them down at a bar counter in a bustling, but not overcrowded, tavern located on a balcony two levels above the main square of Arun. They sat and drank for half an hour, Leafa growing more and more frustrated (but silently glad for the break). Suddenly, Kirito stood and meandered his way towards a side booth, where one person of a pair was just standing. Leafa trailed behind him, all questions. Kirito slid into the booth.

“Um, Kirito, I think that’s occupied –“

“No it’s not, sit down.”

Leafa sat. Across from them was a shady looking Cait Sith, who looked far too amused. “I know you –“ the Cait-Sith glanced at Leafa, who was too shocked to respond, before directing his gaze towards Kirito “—but I’m afraid I don’t know much about you. You appear to have me at a disadvantage.”

Kirito’s grin was shark-like. “Good. I’ll trade you. I want to know everything you know about the top of the World Tree. Assume I know nothing. In exchange, I’ll give you the details on the Salamanders’ attempt to take out Sakuya and your own faction leader today, and how I stopped it. Do we have a deal?”

The Cait-Sith’s eyes gleamed, but his posture remained relaxed into the booth. “That sounds… adequate.” Leafa sat, stunned, and listened to the flow of information. It wasn’t until several minutes in she realized that, while one furred ear was always pointed at Kirito, the other swiveled periodically around the pub. _He’s listening in on everybody else’s conversations!_

Finally, Leafa was able to see when Kirito got what he wanted. The Cait-Sith had pulled out a holophoto. It was blurry, but it seemed to be of the upper branches of the World Tree. Leafa realized she had seen it before, briefly. Recon had been waving it around a few days ago, chattering about some guild's attempt to fly stacked like a rocket to the top of the World Tree. A birdcage hung amongst the branches, and inside it sat a beautiful fairy girl, with long auburn hair.

“Asuna.” The quiet whisper brought Leafa’s attention back to Kirito. His eyes were fixated on the girl, and something like determination and hope was burning in them. Kirito didn’t cut the Cait-Sith off mid-monologue, but it was a near thing. He was practically vibrating in his seat. And then Leafa was bolting out the door after him, on the way to the World Tree.

***

The first time Kirito died, Leafa managed to snag his remain light and revive him. She was furious.

The second time, she didn’t make it.

Leafa was sitting outside the resurrection zone when Yui found her. “Ne-san! Do you know where Papa is?”

Leafa startled visibly. “Yui? Aren’t you supposed to be with Kirito?”

“Papa died, but I didn’t! I can sense him somewhere else, but this is where people who die in the World Tree are supposed to revive!”

“Yui, he hasn’t come through yet… I suppose it’s been a while. Maybe he logged out?” Leafa mused.

Yui shook her head vigorously and wailed, “But Papa can’t log out!”

Slightly exasperated at having an argument with a computer program, Leafa said, “Yui, Kirito really seems to care about you, but he can’t be in the game with you all the time – although I’m going to give him a piece of my mind about the timing when he gets back!”

Yui was even more distressed. “Papa hasn’t logged out in two years!” she blurted, then covered her mouth as if to catch the words.

Leafa froze. _No. No, it can’t be true._ “Yui,” Leafa began carefully, “were you and Kirito somewhere else before Alfheim?”

A hesitant nod.

“Were you in Aincrad? Yui, were you in Sword Art Online?”

Yui’s quiet yes resounded in Leafa’s ears. _Kazuto. Kazuto’s MMORPG name was always… Kirito._ Leafa recalled the numerous times she had barged into Kazuto’s room, trying to get his attention while he was gaming, and hearing his gaming buddies call his username over the computer speakers. It had never stopped aggravating her that he responded to that fake name from people who weren’t even family, instead of his real name when she called. Now Leafa knew better. Kazuto had been confused about his adoption, about who he was, and virtual reality had been an escape. _Until it became a death trap._

Yui didn’t give her much time to process. “But Papa woke up here, and he woke up Yui, and we both knew we needed to look for Mama because we know she’s not dead, because Papa said he beat the game! And that he saw Mama again, so she has to still be alive. And now we know for certain—Mama’s at the top of the World Tree!”

 _Kazuto beat the game? How did – No, it can wait._ “Yui, I need you to calm down. Can you try to do that sensing thing for Kirito? I think we need to find him right now.” Leafa was struggling to keep calm and collected herself. She could hear the tremble in her own voice. 

Yui took a deep breath, and her expression firmed into determination. _Gods. She looks like Kirito._ “Okay! We’re going to find Papa, and then rescue Mama.”

Another notification blinked, was ignored, and joined the queue.

***

Kirito was not where Leafa had found him the first time. She and Yui had followed Yui’s faint _sense-of-where-Kirito-is_ to a seemingly completely random patch of Undine swamp forest. Which was disgusting, and Leafa was going to take it out on Kirito when they found him.

They eventually did find Kirito in the middle of a fight, _again_ , with some toothy swamp-log-monster things. _Joy_.

When she finally managed to get a look at him, Leafa stopped dead in her tracks. All the gear Kirito had bought was gone. He was back in newbie clothes and wielding a basic one-handed sword, the way Leafa had seen him the first time.

“Kirito!” she called. “That’s some bad luck, losing all your gear. But at least we managed to find you, you idiot, how’d you end up out –“ seeing the confused expression on his face, Leafa stopped talking, and her stomach did a nervous flip.

Kirito smiled hesitantly. “I’m sorry, do I know you? I don’t think we’ve met before… Anyway, thanks for the assist." His attention flickered to Yui. "Oh! Hey Yui, did you go find help? I didn’t think I was that bad off...” Yui fluttered worriedly around Kirito’s head. He ducked, saying, “Hey! I’m all good! Nothing’s wrong.”

Leafa stared at him in horror. Kirito turned back to her. “Mind if I ask where you’re going? I’m trying to get to <<Arun>>. There’s someone there I really need to find.”

A notification flickered in the corner. This time, Leafa involuntarily focused on it, subconsciously trying to escape what her mind was telling her. She read it.

 **Q!** _Resume Quest? Help <<Swordsman Kirito>> reach <<Arun>>!_

_._

_._

_._

_._

**|Leafa's Notification Queue|**

**Q!** _< <Storming the Tree>> Quest Failed – Try Again Later!_

 **Q!** _Start Quest: <<The Black Swordsman: Storming the Tree>>_

 **Q!** _Completed Quest: <<The Black Swordsman: Where Does the Caged Bird Sing?>>_

 **Q!** _Start Quest: <<The Black Swordsman: Where Does the Caged Bird Sing?>>_

 **Q!** _Completed Quest: <<The Black Swordsman: Journey to Yggdrasil>>_

 **C!**  1 Message from Recon 

**Q!** _Added NPC <<Swordsman Kirito>> to party. _

**Q!** _Start Quest: <<The Black Swordsman: Journey to Yggdrasil>>_

**Q!** _Completed Quest: <<The Black Swordsman: For Want of a Nail>> _

**Q!** _Start Quest: <<The Black Swordsman: For Want of a Nail>>_

**Q!** _Quest Unlocked: <<The Black Swordsman>>_

**Author's Note:**

> This has the potential to go further and explore more about what exactly Sugou has done to Kirito, but currently it's complete. I If you think I was too subtle / not clear enough on the ending - i.e., you didn't catch that Sugou shoehorned Kirito into a quest NPC role, and he gets reset on death - drop a note and let me know. If you want to see more - let me know, it *could* happen.  
> As a note - it's not shown due to Leafa's POV, but Kirito is intended as a hidden questline - so while to the system he may be categorized as an NPC, other players are not notified until the Quest Notification once he's joined the party. He'll pop as another player.  
> Criticism is welcome and appreciated!  
> PS- If you like LH too, and are stressed by the dearth of fic on AO3, that's my current rabid plotbunny farm. One fic posted, another scheduled for Christmas, and more in the works.


End file.
